DEHRADUN: A field research study carried out by a professor of Kumaun University has revealed the existence of 77 new glacial lakes in the Gori Ganga region of the Kumaon Himalayas.

The water bodies, located at an elevation of over 3,500 metres, formed over 3 years-- between 1990 and 2020-- due to diminishing of snow-covered areas.The Gori Ganga area mainly includes Milam, Gonkha, Ralam, Lwan and Martoli glaciers.

The biggest glacial lake, with a 2.7 km size, was found in Gonkha.

Any future geological activities can cause the lake to burst, setting off a flash flood, the research study mentioned.There are a number of other glaciers, too, which are tributaries of the main glacial bodies, stated Devendra Parihar, teacher of location at the Nainital campus of Kumaun University.

It was discovered that by the year 2020, a total of 77 glacier lakes (with sizes over 50 metres) were formed.

Of these, the maximum, 36 lakes, are present in Milam, seven lakes in Gonkha, 25 in Ralam, 3 in Lwan and six lakes in Mertoli glacier.

Both the diameter of glacier lakes and formation of new lakes are increasing quickly in all glacier regions, Parihar said.The teacher informed TOI that the Gori Ganga watershed, which was his research study area, experienced serious flash floods in the last 10 years, causing big losses to residential or commercial property and farming lands.

The research study was carried out using GIS (geographical information system), remote noticing and satellite photos, which was followed by ground trothing (information collection at the site after field trips).

The professor likewise went to Milam and Gonkha glaciers as part of the research.Due to frequent floods, several villages in the Gori Ganga valley location, consisting of Toli, Lumti, Mawani, Dobri, Baram, Sana, Bhadeli, Dani Bagad, Sera, Ropar, Seraghat, Bagichabgarh, Umadgarh, Bangapani, Devibaghd, Chhodibaghd, Ghattabaghd, Madkot and Talla Mori, have been declared disaster-prone by the district administration.In November 2021, the year a flash flood in Chamoli killed around 200 individuals, the Uttarakhand catastrophe management department had inked an MoU with the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing to perform a satellite-based mountain threat evaluation, consisting of monitoring of glacial lakes, glaciers and landslides zones and avalanche-prone areas in Uttarakhand.

Based on a price quote of the catastrophe management department, there are over 1,000 glaciers and over 1,200 small and huge glacial lakes in the greater mountainous region of Uttarakhand.When glacial lakes burst, they produce a glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF), a stream of fast-moving ice, water and particles that can quickly damage settlements downstream.

The Chamoli flash flood is believed to have been set off by one such glacial outburst.

A high-altitude synthetic lake was formed in Chamoli after the flood, potentially by the water that sped down the Alaknanda river after the glacier burst.According to a current study by a group of researchers from the UKs Newcastle University, 15 million individuals worldwide are at the risk of flooding activated by glacial lakes.

The greatest of those exposed to the risk, around three million people, are from India, followed by Pakistan, Peru and China.